Giamatti joins a cast that includes Ice Cube's son O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, and Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E.

Heller was N.W.A's manager during their rise to prominence in the 1980s. He eventually became a controversial figure: Both Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have claimed that he cheated them out of money. Heller was blamed for the band's split by Ice Cube on his track "No Vaseline" (in one of his most controversial lines ever), and his business relationship with Eazy-E and other rappers was parodied in Dre's "Dre Day" video.

Heller also ran Ruthless Records, which released Straight Outta Compton, plus records by Eazy-E, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and many others.

Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously stated that Marcus Callendar will portray Dr. Dre.